Out in the Cold
by Desha
Summary: While taking a break from things, the Turks come across two people wandering around in the snow... and Reno ends up with a job he'd rather not have.


Out in the Cold  
by Desha  
  
Note: This started out as an attempt at a relatively serious story, but ended up being a little silly in some places. It takes place sometime after the incident with Meteor. Rated PG for some not nice words.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reno moaned and shifted his bruised and battered body into a slightly more comfortable position. He lay there a moment, waiting for a response. Recieving none, he moaned again, louder this time and more pitifully.  
  
"Oh, cut it out Reno," came a feminine voice from across the room.  
  
"Hey, I'm in pain here... You could at least *pretend* you have an ounce of compassion..."  
  
"It's not my fault you managed to snowboard straight into a tree," Elena replied, "Just be glad you weren't going any faster. You got off luck you if you ask me."  
  
"I don't call three broken ribs and a mild concussion lucky," Reno muttered, cursing the woman mentally for neglecting to bring along a Restore materia, "Some vacation... The Planet is saved and I'm in too much pain to enjoy it! Rude had damn well better get back soon with the... uh... supplies."  
  
"Aww... Is Reno grumpy 'cause he doesn't have any beer?" Elena cooed mockingly. Reno glared at her in response.  
  
"Whose brilliant idea was it to 'get away from it all' out in the middle of the Great Glacier, anyway?" he wondered aloud.  
  
"Yours," Elena said with a smirk. She stood and wandered over to one of the windows, staring out at the softly falling snow. They'd all wanted to get away for awhile. Away from the ruins of Midgar. Away from the memories of recent events. She only wished that Tseng were alive to enjoy this little respite with them... Maybe he could tell them what to do with their lives once the vacation was over and they had to face reality again. She shook her head. Tseng was gone... There was nothing any of them could do about it. She had to get on with her life. If only she knew how to do that. The truth of the matter was that they had nowhere to go. Shinra was gone. Without Shinra, the word "Turk" didn't amount to much. And yet they were still Turks... They would always be Turks. Elena somehow knew that Reno and Rude felt the same way, and she took comfort in the knowledge that she wasn't alone... despite the fact that Reno could be the world's biggest pain in the ass sometimes. And the rest of the time he just *was* an ass. She smiled at that thought, admiting to herself that Reno wasn't really *that* bad. Not always, at any rate.  
  
"Hey Elena?" Reno called out, interupting her thoughts, "Any sign of Rude yet? He's been gone awhile now..."  
  
Elena shook her head. Reno sighed and leaned back against the pillows on the couch. The snow was coming down faster now and the wind had picked up slightly. The sat for awhile in mutual silence, the concern for their fellow Turk shared but unspoken for the moment.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Yuffie... I'm cold!" a tiny voice whined.  
  
"Yeah, me too... Don't worry. I think we're almost there," the young ninja replied, though in reality her thoughts weren't so optimistic. 'Barret is sooo gonna kill me when he finds out I got his kid lost in the the middle of a glacier...' she thought. The snow falling all around them had a dizzying effect as it was whipped around by a bitter wind, and as much as Yuffie hated to admit it, she was almost certain they'd been walking in circles... Or rather *she* was walking in cirles. Marlene was clinging tightly to Yuffie's back, getting a free ride through the snow. How she'd gotten suckered into babysitting, Yuffie had no idea. She also had know idea why she thought taking Marlene out for a walk in the snow would be fun. They should have just stayed inside by the nice warm fire while the others were out freezing in the cold. 'Why couldn't we have gone to Wutai the relax?' she thought, 'At least Wutai is warm.'  
  
By now, her feet were going numb. 'I would give anything to be curled up in a blanket in front of a fire right now...' she thought. A loud mechanical roar suddely caught her attention, and she turned her eyes in the direction of the sound, straining to see through the curtain of snowfall. When she locked onto the source of the noise, for a moment she thought she'd faint from sheer relief. Yuffie set Marlene down.  
  
"Hey," she yelled, waving her arms, "Come on, stop!" The distant snowmobile turned toward them and slid to a stop a few feet away.  
  
"Am I ever glad you came along... We're lost and..." Yuffie stopped mid-explanation, jaw dropping. She stared at the hooded figure seated on the snowmobile, telling herself she was imagining things. She blinked once, but still she found herself staring at sunglass-hidden eyes. 'Of all the luck...' she thought, wondering just what she'd done to piss off the Fates so badly.  
  
"GAWD! Are you guys *still* following us?!" she exclaimed. The barest hint of a smile flashed across Rude's otherwise unreadable face. He looked at the two shivering girls and shook his head.  
  
"Get on," he said, nodding to the snowmobile.  
  
'Freeze to death... Go with the Turk... Freeze to death... Go with the Turk,' Yuffie thought, weighing her options, 'Some choice...' At last she gave in and lifted Marlene onto the snowmobile behind Rude, then climbed on herself behind Marlene. The vehicle lurched forward, speeding off across the snowfield. Yuffie squeezed her eyes shut and held on for dear life.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Well it's about time..." said Elena, "I was getting worried about him." Reno looked up from the couch.  
  
"Does he have beer? He'd better have beer..." he said, though deep down he was relieved to know that Rude hadn't run into any trouble while he was gone.  
  
"I don't know about your precious beer, but it looks like he brought some company," she replied. Reno was about to ask her just what the hell she was talking about when the door opened, flooding the room with icy air. Reno sat up, wincing as his bruises and strained muscles protested the movement, and saw not one, but three figures crowding through the doorway of the cabin.  
  
"Hey Rude... Who're your friends?" he asked, grinning. One of the shivering new arrivals lowered the hood of her coat, revealing a mop of short brown hair. Reno's smile faded as the young woman looked over at him.  
  
"You?! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, nice to see you too, Reno," Yuffie snorted. She walked farther into the room, pulling along the smaller person behind her. Yuffie proceeded to unwrapped this person from the layers of warm clothing it wore, revealing a little brown-haired girl, not possibly more than five or six years old. She sat the girl down in front of the fire.  
  
"There ya go Marlene... You just warm up, okay?" The girl grinned and held her hands out to the fire, warming them.  
  
"Rude, what's going on?" asked Elena. Rude shrugged.  
  
"Found 'em," he said simply. Reno dragged himself to his feet, trying to ignore the constant throbbing of his broken ribs, and wishing for at least the hundreth time that day he'd remembered to bring a Restore materia. Yuffie, on the other hand, was wishing that she'd thought to bring her Conformer... Who knew what the Turks would do to her? Not to mention Marlene.  
  
"So what are you doing here? And who's the kid?" Reno asked, sauntering closer to the group.  
  
"Geez... What happened to you?" Yuffie asked, ignoring Reno's questions. She hadn't really been paying attention when she glanced at him before, but now she caught sight of the dark bruise on his forehead and the scratches on his face... The way he was standing, he looked to be in some amount of pain. Elena opened her mouth to reply, but Reno cut her off.  
  
"Not a word!" he hissed. The last thing he needed was to be made to look like an idiot in front of someone who was supposed to be the enemy. Of course there was really no reason for them to continue on as enemies, but he doubted that she and the rest of that AVALANCHE group would ever be on friendly terms with the Turks.  
  
Yuffie smirked. "What? You run into a tree or somethin' dumb like that?" The look of surprise and the slight flush of his cheeks gave her the answer to her question. "Oh my god, you did, didn't you?" She burst out laughing, and didn't stop until she heard the loud click of a gun being cocked. She swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat and stared cross-eyed at the barrel that was pressed against the center of her forehead.  
  
'Note to self,' she thought, 'Don't make fun of a Turk when you're unarmed and outnumbered three to one.'  
  
Reno just stood there, scowling at her, finger dangerously tense on the trigger. He was not in the mood to be laughed at. He was in pain. He was irritated... And most importantly, he'd been sober for days. That combination did not a happy Turk make.  
  
"Leave her alone, ya big meany!" The childish demand was accompanied by a sharp kick to Reno's shin.  
  
"Yeow!" Reno cried in pain, dropping the gun and rubbing his newest bruise. He instinctively sought out his attacker, discovering the little girl Yuffie had brought with her... Marlene, was it?  
  
"You little brat!" He lunged for the child, but Marlene darted between his legs, scampering to the other side of the room. Off-balance now, Reno fell to the floor, yelping as his already-broken ribs slammed unmercifully into the floor boards. Without another word, and ignoring Yuffie's renewed laughter, as well as the snickering of a certain blond-haired Turk, he crawled back to his spot on the couch and curled up on his side.  
  
"..." Rude watched as Reno lay silently on the couch, "You alright?"  
  
"Peachy," Reno snapped, glaring at Marlene who was crouched under a table. She stuck her tongue out at him in response. Yuffie was a little surprised. Marlene was usually painfully shy, and yet she'd just smacked Reno around like an old pro. The amusement faded quickly, however, when she remembered that she and Marlene were still in the clutches of the Turks.  
  
"Uh... Well if you guys could just point us in the direction of civilization, we'll be going..." she said nervously.  
  
"That-a-way," Reno replied, pointing randomly.  
  
"Well, gee... You're a big help. Come on Marlene... We'll find our own way back," said Yuffie.  
  
"Great... Nice seeing you again... Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Reno replied.  
  
"You're not seriously going to take that little girl back out into the cold, are you? She'll freeze!" Elena said, ignoring Reno. Yuffie sighed and looked over at Marlene, who had moved back toward the fire.  
  
"Fine... Rude brought you here. He can take you back," Reno muttered from the couch. Rude nodded in agreement.  
  
"Hey... How come you Turks are suddenly so willing to help us?" Yuffie asked, eying Reno suspiciously.  
  
"Because," Reno hissed, "No one's paying us to do anything to you and your friends anymore... Besides, killing some bratty little ninja babysitter is hardly worth my time."  
  
"Hey!" Yuffie yelled, insulted.  
  
"Ignore him... He's cranky when he's sober," said Elena.  
  
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Elena..." Reno replied, sitting up on the couch, "Rude willya just take 'em back to the rest of their loser friends so we can get some peace and quiet?"  
  
"Well, that's gonna be a problem," said Yuffie, "I dunno where exactly they are... But I'm sure I'd recognize the place if we got close enough..."  
  
"Maybe we should leave the kid here while we look," Rude said, uttering the longest sentance anyone had heard from him all day.  
  
"That's probably best... We don't know how long we'll be out there looking," Elena added.  
  
"What do you mean 'we', Elena? Rude can take care of little miss materia thief," said Reno, "You're staying here to keep the brat occupied."  
  
"What if Rude needs someone to back him up? And with three people looking, we'll probably find the rest of AVALANCHE faster... Which means we can get back to our vacation sooner," Elena argued.  
  
"I am not a babysitter!" Reno protested, "I'll go with Rude. *You* stay here."  
  
"Haven't you had enough pain for one day, Reno?" Yuffie piped up, smirking, "Just think how bouncing along on a snowmobile is gonna feel..." A part of her hoped the red-haired Turk would come. It would serve him right for being such a jerk. For once, Reno couldn't come up with a decent arguement.  
  
"Well then, it's settled," said Yuffie, as she picked up Marlene and set her down on the couch next to Reno, "I'm gonna go see if I can find the way back, okay Marlene? You're gonna stay here and have fun with uncle Reno."  
  
Reno could hear snickering coming from the direction of the door. The little girl looked up at him, and then over at Yuffie.  
  
"I don't wanna," Marlene stated, folding her arms across her chest stubbornly.  
  
"That makes two of us," muttered Reno.  
  
"Hey, don't worry Marlene... I'll be back real soon," said Yuffie. She turned to the other two Turks, "Let's go..."  
  
Rude bent down and picked up Reno's gun from where it had been dropped on the floor and tucked it into his coat.  
  
"Just in case..." he murmured, noting that Reno was scowling at Marlene.  
  
"Oh come on... You don't honestly think I'd shoot a kid, do you?" Reno yelled at Rude's back as he and the other two walked out into the snow. The only answer he recieved was the slam of the door closing. He sighed and glared down at Marlene. She squeaked in fright and skittered to the other end of the couch.  
  
'It's going to be a long day,' Reno thought, rolling his eyes.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
After fifteen minutes ot Marlene staring at him, making no sound other than the occasional sniffle, Reno could take no more.  
  
"How about a game? Huh? Ya like hide and seek?" he asked at last. Marlene nodded slowly.  
  
"Good. You hide and I'll seek," said Reno. Marlene grinned and hopped off the couch while Reno closed his eyes and started counting. He listened as the soft sound of a child's footsteps ascended the stairs to the second floor of the cabin and a moment later, opened his eyes.  
  
"That should keep her out of my hair for awhile," Reno said to himself, stretching out again on the couch and propping his feet up on a pillow, deciding that there was really nothing at all to this babysitting thing.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reno yawned and opened his eyes, wondering how long ago he'd fallen asleep. He sat up stiffly, and immediately felt that he was forgetting something. Suddenly he froze.  
  
"Uh oh... Where's the kid?" he asked of the empty room. He dragged himself to his feet and headed upstairs, finding the doors to each of the bedrooms suspisiously ajar. He checked Rude's room first, peeking under the bed, in the closet, and anywhere else he thought Marlene might be hiding. After a thorough search that turned up nothing, he headed to Elena's room, searching it too, with the same results. That just left his own bedroom.  
  
Just then he heard a familiar crackle from behind the door of his room, followed by a soft giggle. He shoved the door wide open just in time to see Marlene on her knees next to his bed, one of her tiny hands holding tight to his electro-mag rod, the other slowly reaching toward the luminescent bolts of electricity that sparkled from its tip.  
  
"Marlene!" he cried, and the girl jumped, startled by his sudden entrance, and dropped the rod. Reno took the opportunity to snatch the weapon away from her.  
  
"What are you doing?! Trying to fry yourself?!" he yelled in disbelief, "This is not a toy!"  
  
Marlene was silent for a moment, and then sniffled once before breaking down into tears.  
  
"I-I'm s-sorry," she sobbed before launching into loud wails.  
  
"Ah, come on... Don't do that," Reno moaned, utterly at a loss for what to do, "Come on... Stop cryin'... Please? I'll give you whatever you want if you just stop crying..."  
  
He wasn't about to spend that next few hours with this kid bawling her eyes out. But she didn't stop. Reno looked around desperately for something to bribe her with.  
  
"Really... anything! Money? Materia? Um... How about a cookie?" he offered, remembering the box of cookies Elena had hidden downstairs... Of course it had only taken a few minutes for Reno to find her hiding place, and thus far she hadn't noticed that her supposedly secret stash of junk food was slowly disappearing.  
  
"A cookie?" Marlene echoed, sniffling. Reno nodded.  
  
"Yeah... Just quit cryin' and you can have a cookie," he affirmed. Much to his relief, Marlene smiled and wiped the tears off of her cheeks with the back of her hand. Reno tossed the weapon that had started all this onto his bed and took Marlene's hand, leading her back downstairs.  
  
"There... Better now?" he asked, handing her the promised cookie. Marlene nodded, munching on the treat. Reno grabbed a couple for himself, deciding that if Elena noticed he'd just tell her that Marlene had eaten them. It didn't take long for them to finish off the entire box...  
  
"I suppose now I'm gonna have to find something to keep you out of trouble, huh?" he commented, "So what do you want to do?"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Twenty seven rounds of hide and seek, four card games, a "tea party", and a piggyback ride later, Reno was exhausted... but oddly enough, enjoying himself. Elena and Rude still hadn't come back.  
  
'Where do kids get all this energy?' he wondered, as Marlene tugged on his sleeve for the umpteenth time that day. He glanced down at her with weary eyes.  
  
"Will you tell me a story?" she asked.  
  
'Oh thank god... Something that doesn't involve movement,' he thought, the part of his mind that had been urging him to take a break cheering for joy.  
  
"Uh... Sure, I guess..." He let Marlene lead him over to the couch, searching his mind for some kind of story he could tell her. He sat down, and she climbed onto his lap looking up at him expectantly. She reached up and grabbed the sunglasses that were perched in their usual place atop his head, putting them on herself and giggling as she looked at him through the darkly tinted lenses. Reno couldn't help but grin at the rather comical... and disturbingly cute... sight. 'Damn, I'm getting soft,' he thought.  
  
"So... What kind of story do you want to hear?" he asked, drawing a blank. Marlene pushed the sunglasses up above her forehead, mirroring the way Reno had been wearing them just a moment ago.  
  
"A fairy tale," she replied. She settled back against him, waiting for him to begin.  
  
'A fairy tale? Do I even know any?' Reno asked himself, 'Ah hell... I'll just make something up...'  
  
"Um... Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named... uh... Marlene..." he started. Marlene giggled and snuggled up to him.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"And they all lived happily ever after," Reno said, yawning. His eyelids seemed to weight a hundred pounds, and he knew that soon he would be forced to give in to the overpowering desire to sleep. He felt Marlene climb down off of his lap, and closed his eyes, reclining back on the couch. A moment later a blanket was spread over his body, and he opened his eyes again just in time to see Marlene crawling underneath the blanket with him to curl up in his arms. She pressed her cheek against his shoulder, and Reno draped an arm protectively over her before drifting off to sleep, a slight smile on his lips.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"The hell were you thinkin'? How could you leave my little Marlene with that sonofa-"   
  
"I didn't have any choice!" Yuffie whined in her defense.  
  
"If he's hurt her..."  
  
"Reno wouldn't hurt her!" Elena protested. Rude stayed out of the arguement altogether. It had been like this the whole way back... Barret yelling at Yuffie for leaving Marlene behind... Yuffie yelling at Barret for yelling at her... Elena yelling at them both in Reno's defense, if only to prevent things from getting out of hand. When they'd finally located the cabin where Yuffie's friends were staying, they had met with a less-than-warm welcome. Barret had insisted on accompanying them himself to reclaim the little girl, waving around the intimidating weapon mounted on his arm to get his point across.  
  
"Shut up ya Turk... Just gimme back Marlene," Barret growled. They just now had arrived at the Turks' cabin.  
  
Rude headed for the door, opening it and waving the others inside, out of the cold. The room was dark and silent, save for the soft crackle of the fire whose glow spilled across the room in wavering streaks of gentle light. Things seemed a little too quiet. Yuffie was the first to notice the two figures sleeping on the couch.  
  
"Aww... That's just like so... adorable..." she exclaimed, finding it more than a little strange to be using the word "adorable" in referance to Reno of all people. Barret seemed to be shocked into silence.  
  
"I guess we should wake them up..." Elena said hesitatingly. Rude nodded in agreement. Elena walked over to Reno and Marlene, and shook Reno gently. When he didn't wake up, she shook him harder. This time he mumbled something unintelligible, and pulled Marlene closer, still asleep.  
  
"Reno, wake up!" she said, jabbing him in the ribs.  
  
"Ow!" Reno yelled, bloting upright, "Watch it willya? At this rate those ribs are never gonna heal!"  
  
"Sorry... I forgot," said Elena. Marlene yawned and sat up, looking around at the people who'd suddenly appeared in the room.  
  
"Papa!" she cried, jumping from the couch and throwing herself at Barret. He lifted her up with his good arm.  
  
"Marlene, darlin'... Are you alright? I was worried sick about you! Come on... We're goin' back to our cabin."  
  
"Hey, don't I even get a thank you for takin' such good care of her?" Reno asked from the couch as he tried to untangle himself from the blanket. Marlene squirmed in Barret's arms until he set her down. She crept back over to Reno, climbing onto the couch, and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug.  
  
"Heh... I guess that'll do," he said with a grin. The rest of the people in the room just stared not sure what to make of all this.  
  
"What?" asked Reno, noticing the odd looks he was receiving, "I'll have you know that all women, reguardless of age, find me irresistable."  
  
Barret snorted. "Right..." he muttered, before grudgingly adding, "Thanks."  
  
"Here Reno," said Marlene, taking off the sunglasses she still wore and holding them out to him.  
  
"Nah, you keep 'em... They look better on you anyway," Reno replied. Marlene grinned and put them back on, waving to him as she walked back over to Barret and Yuffie. Barret wrestled her into her coat, and the three of them headed for the door.  
  
"Bye Reno!" Marlene called, turning back for a moment as she was guided outside the the waiting snowmobile.  
  
"Bye..." Reno called after her. He walked to the window, watching as they sped off, disappearing into the snow, a sudden wave of disappointment to see her leaving so soon washing over him. He sighed almost inaudibly. Groaning inwardly, he realized that he missed her already. 'I am definitly getting soft,' he thought, turning away from the window.  
  
"So I guess you had fun after all, huh Reno? What'd you and the kid do all day, anyway?" asked Elena, teasingly. Reno smirked.   
  
"Well, for one thing, I let her eat all your cookies..." he replied with a grin.  
  
*~fin~*  



End file.
